On 29th September, the "Brainstorming'26 on Advanced Mathematical Tools for Process Engineering" event took place at the Técnico Lisboa Congress Center. It featured 13 oral presentations, including one by Ignacio Grossmann, a professor specializing in Process Systems Engineering and mathematical optimization.
This event was organized in memory of Pedro Castro, who passed away suddenly in December 2024, and therefore took place on his birthday. Pedro Castro was a member of CERENA and a professor in the Chemical Engineering Department of Técnico Lisboa. Within the Department, he was an active member of the scientific and pedagogical section of Process and Project Engineering and responsible for the Informatics area as a member of the Department Board. In the words of Henrique Matos, “Pedro was rigorous and demanding, but he always pushed the students to do better and challenged them to think further. Pedro was a leading researcher who was well-known and highly respected in the areas of Process Systems Engineering and Optimization.” The event concluded with the attribution of the PSE – Professor Pedro Castro Award for Process Systems Engineering, an award that aims to keep Pedro’s memory alive. The prize, powered by GALP (2026 edition), was awarded to Master Duarte Neto Silva for his excellence in 5 master's course units in Chemical Engineering taught by Pedro Castro. Manuel Andrade from GALP and the coordinator of the Chemical Engineering Master’s program, Moisés Pinto, were present for the award ceremony. The Brainstorming 2026 was a joint organization of the DEQ (Department of Chemical Engineering), through Henrique Matos, and the DEG (Department of Engineering and Management), through Tânia Pinto Varela.
